Max Allegri nearing Juventus exit after bust-up with stars as agent negotiates move to replace Arsene Wenger as Arsenal manager
MAX ALLEGRI is moving closer to replacing Arsene Wenger as Arsenal manager following a bust-up with senior members of his Juventus side.
Wenger is expected to leave his post as Gunners boss after 21 years at the end of this current campaign — with the Italian emerging as one of the potential replacements.
Allegri, whose agent is understood to have been in talks with Arsenal chiefs, has until March to decide whether he wants to carry on at the Turin club.
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But an agreement seems off the table, following another clash with some of his more influential stars, which leaves their relationship at rock-bottom.
Following December’s Italian Super Cup defeat to AC Milan, he said he wanted to “kick some of the players up the a***” — comments which infuriated many of his squad members.
And, over the weekend, the former Milan gaffer told the fourth official to “f*** off” during the 2-1 defeat to Fiorentina.
And that has not gone down well with influential stars Gianluigi Buffon, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini.
Juventus bosses tend to rise above criticising officials, and the trio believe Allegri has reneged on the club’s philosophy. They think he is finding excuses rather than solutions to their inconsistent form.
This comes on the back of a high-profile spat with Patrice Evra.
The Frenchman looks set to leave Juventus, with Crystal Palace his likely destination.
An alarming dip in form coincided with an increase in social media usage, and Allegri pulled an Instagram clip which Evra was due to upload just days before the clash with Milan in December.
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While the Bianconeri boss appears to have won that battle, 35-year-old Evra is a popular member of the squad and team-mates are not best pleased at his treatment.
For his part, Allegri believes he doesn’t get enough credit for the work he has done.
Until the Italian Super Cup defeat, Juventus had won every domestic trophy available to them in the two-and-a-half-year-spell under the Italian — and even reached the 2015 Champions League final.
Allegri’s agent is in talks with Arsenal over a potential switch in the summer.
He wants a role which would keep him for the best part of a decade, and believes he has the tactical knowledge to take the North London club forward.
Should Allegri leave in the summer, Juventus would turn to former Swansea and QPR boss Paulo Sousa.
The Portuguese manager won the Champions League as a player with Juventus in 1996 and knows the club well.
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However, he is currently in charge of arch-rivals, Fiorentina, which would make the switch complicated.
Diego Simeone — who is also a post-Wenger target for Arsenal — would be the Bianconeri’s second choice.
But the Atletico Madrid boss has always pledged his allegiance to former club, Inter Milan.